Companies often have different reasons for and approaches to expansion through business combinations. Cisco Systems is a company that is thought to acquire other companies to fill identifiable niches, with the specific role of each acquisition planned in advance. On the other hand, the Quaker Oats Company has not always been viewed in the same way. For example, when Quaker Oats acquired Snapple in 1994, some viewed Quaker Oats as simply "purchasing earnings"

rather than making a strategic acquisition. The two companies have had varying degrees of success with their acquisitions.

Required

a. Describe the nature of the business of Cisco Systems.

b. Describe the nature of the business of Quaker Oats.

c. What evidence can you find that indicates that Cisco's business acquisitions are made for a specific purpose?

d. What evidence can you find that indicates that Quaker Oats' business acquisitions are or are not always the result of well-considered strategic planning in terms of the role that each will play in the overall company?

e. How has Cisco Systems and its acquisitions fared? How successful was the acquisition of Snapple by Quaker Oats? What action did Quaker Oats ultimately take with respect to Snapple?